Patent class list (only not empty are listed)

Deeper subclasses:

Entries

Document

Title

Date

20140012610

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ITINERARY PLANNING - The present invention relates to a system and method for itinerary planning. The method commences with processing of network segments stored in a database to generate builds in response to receiving an itinerary planning request. At least one of the builds having a cost that is lowest is selected. The cost is determined as a function of at least two factors. The at least one build is outputted.

01-09-2014

20100010841

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY DETERMINING TRAVEL PRODUCT PRICE REBATES - A computer-implemented system and method are provided for automatically determining rebate eligibility for purchased products. In one example, the purchased products may be travel-rebated products such as booked air travel itineraries. A database stores purchase information associated with purchased products purchased at corresponding purchase prices. A product administration system having a computer software-based product administration application interacts with the database and purchase information of a first purchased product is compared with purchase information of subsequently purchased products. The product administration application interacts with the database to determine if the first purchased a product matches a subsequently purchased product based on a set of matching criteria. The first purchased product may be eligible for a rebate if the product administration application determines that the subsequently purchased product was purchased at a lower purchase price than the purchase price for the first purchased product.

01-14-2010

20090271227

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MONETIZING EMPTY SPACE INVENTORY AS EMPTY ADJACENT SPACE - Methods and systems for facilitating the sale, lease, rental, or other monetization of unsold space inventory (e.g., seats, berths, cabins, rooms, etc.) to customers or passengers as guaranteed, empty adjacent space, after the passenger has already purchased a reservation and check-in has commenced. The empty adjacent space (EAS) may be sold as an upgrade when a guest checks-in at an event (e.g., an airline flight, theater performance, train trip, bus trip, hotel stay, day at the beach, parking space lease, etc.) or some time thereafter.

10-29-2009

20090287513

System and method for processing multiple bookings to receive a transportation service - A system and method for use by a transportation service provider to process multiple bookings in a single transaction. This single-transaction processing can be initiated to place passengers of multiple bookings on a same flight, to seat passengers of multiple bookings next to one another, or to reserve special services for passengers of multiple bookings. This mechanism is supported by a user interface that allows multiple bookings to be “visually merged”. This provides a display that presents data for multiple bookings as though that data is part of a same booking, and which readily allows a user to initiate processing of the data during a single transaction.

11-19-2009

20140350979

MULTI-MODAL JOURNEY PLANNING AND PAYMENT - Techniques are disclosed for providing trip planning and associated payment of a trip involving multiple modes of transportation (i.e., “multi-modal trip planning”). Embodiments can enable a user to plan a multi-modal journey on an electronic device, and pay for products (tolls, tickets, etc.) associated with the journey on the same electronic device, or a different electronic device. Embodiments can also allow for re-planning a journey, providing for an alternative route when current information regarding an original route suggests the alternate route would be advisable. Payment for products associated with the alternate route can be provided.

11-27-2014

20160132795

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DISPLAYING SCHEDULE INFORMATION - A method and system comprising: receiving travel request data; retrieving schedule data associated with the travel request data from the database, the schedule data being further associated with a scheduled travel time; retrieving availability data associated with the travel request data from the cache, the availability data being further associated with an available travel time; and sending the schedule data and the availability data via a computer network.

05-12-2016

20110301986

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RESERVING FUTURE PURCHASES OF GOODS OR SERVICES - A method and system for reserving future purchases of airline tickets using plural electronic options. The electronic options are used to reserve plural airline fares on a plural airline routes to plural destinations and a plural of fare classes for a pre-determined period. A final airline fare, route, destination and fare class is determined when the electronic option is actually exercised. All other reservations are automatically canceled. The method and system allows the electronic options to be purchased to book now and pay later for airline tickets and other travel related goods and services such rental cars, hotel rooms, event tickets, local attraction tickets, theme park tickets, etc.

12-08-2011

20120191492

Multi-City Criteria Correlation and Cost Query Apparatus - A multi-city criteria correlation and cost query (MCCQ) apparatus generates potential travel destination suggestions. The MCCQ apparatus is configured with a user interface adapted to receive source and destination criteria from a user which is processed using a multi-criteria correlation processor and comparing the destination criteria to information about destinations in a city database. City data record objects and city pair objects are formed for each identified destination alternative and transmitted to an internal or third party supplier of travel cost or other pertinent travel data. City response record objects or city pair report objects are generated corresponding to the data attributes of each city data record object or city pair object and are stored in a temporary aggregation database. In various embodiments results are sorted and/or filtered to generate a multi-destination comparison report including cost or other data which may be displayed as a physical document or on a user interface component.

07-26-2012

20110077984

System for destination-based travel planning and booking - A method of travel planning and booking that allows a traveler to create on a website a profile of travel preferences, stores the profile of travel preferences, and allows the traveler to enter on the website a travel plan comprising a departure address, proposed destinations and arrival and departure times for each destination. It then identifies options for the travel plan based on the profile of travel preferences.

03-31-2011

20110071864

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SETTLING THE PAYMENT OF A TRAVEL E-TICKET - A system for settling the payment of a travel e-ticket includes: data storage elements for storing passenger name records in a database; elements for identifying passenger name records eligible for a late payment service in the database, each passenger name record being associated to at least one segment, elements for detecting when a predetermined event occurs prior to transportation carrier departure, a server associated to the database and arranged for retrieving therefrom all passenger name records eligible for the late payment service; elements for selecting at least one segment that can be priced for each retrieved passenger name record; elements for pricing the segment; elements for issuing a coupon associated to the segment; elements for updating the database with issuance information concerning the segment; elements for voiding all travel coupons for which no change of coupon status has been reported by an airport departure control system handling the carrier departure; elements for receiving a change of coupon status indicating that the coupon has been used, then triggering a reporting of the segments for which a change of coupon status has been reported by departure control system; elements for settling the payment of coupons for which change of status has been reported on the basis of the prices determined by the pricing elements.

03-24-2011

20140278615

MISCONNECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A misconnect management system models the movement of passengers, bags, and crew through flights and airports. In various embodiments, a misconnect management system identifies potential misconnected passengers and provides recommendations and input configured to support decision makers, such as ramp controllers and operations controller, in evaluating hold/no hold decisions for a flight. Via use of the misconnect management system and associated methods, misconnected passenger numbers may be reduced, expenses associated with missed connections may be reduced, and organizational efficiency may be improved.

09-18-2014

20120239443

PROCESSING AND FULFILLING NATURAL LANGUAGE TRAVEL REQUESTS - Systems and methods that process natural language travel requests are described herein. According to some embodiments, methods for processing natural language travel requests may include: (a) decoding itinerary components from a natural language travel request, (b) determining a node type for each of the itinerary components, (c) ascertaining dependencies between each of the itinerary components based upon respective node types, (d) generating an unconstrained schedule using the itinerary components and respective dependencies therebetween, and (d) allocating available inventory to each of the itinerary components according to the unconstrained schedule to fulfill the natural language travel request.

09-20-2012

20100017238

TRAVEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A travel management system. In one implementation, a state-based desktop client provides a travel planning and management workspace for the user. The user may perform travel planning activities, and log out of the travel workspace without having to repeat travel planning tasks. In another implementation, travel planning tasks may be stored as data feeds that keep up-to-date fare and availability data even when the user is not logged into the travel workspace.

01-21-2010

20110071865

CONCIERGE SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Systems and methods are disclosed for a computer implemented concierge system. The system includes receiving an itinerary having one or more guest interests indicated therein; receiving one or more vendor features or capabilities; filtering candidate trips by matching the guest interests with the vendor features; and displaying the filtered candidate trips for selection.

03-24-2011

20110022428

Modelling a transport market - A system, method or computer simulates a transport environment by providing a plurality of transport routes within a transport environment. Each transport route has a set of parameters providing a plurality of itineraries, each having one or more transport routes selected from the plurality of transport routes and itinerary properties including the parameters of the one or more transport routes within the itinerary. A plurality of software agents corresponding to passengers is provided. The software agents include an itinerary selector configured to select one of the plurality of itineraries based on a comparison of the itinerary properties and a set of passenger requirements. Information describing the simulated transport environment, following selection of itineraries by the software agents, forms an output.

01-27-2011

20110029336

METHOD TO KEEP COHERENT A TRAVEL SHOPPING BASKET - A method of keeping coherent contents of a travel shopping basket gathering travel products from independent travel service providers is described. The method is characterized in that it includes a first step to synchronize the travel shopping basket upon reception of notifications of changes received from the independent travel service providers, and to further determine what changes have been brought to the gathered travel products by the independent travel service providers. It includes a second step to aggregate the changes into the travel shopping basket so that to transform characteristics of the gathered travel products into specific attributes of the travel shopping basket; and to integrate local attributes into the travel shopping basket. Finally, a third step is aimed at correlating all attributes of the travel shopping basket against each other, matching all attributes functionally equivalent and removing duplicated attributes from the travel shopping basket.

02-03-2011

20160093006

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRESENTING TRAVELER INTERFACES ON DISPLAYS OF MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICES - In some embodiments, systems and methods for presenting a traveler interface using a mobile computing device are provided. In some embodiments, aspects of the traveler interface are hidden to allow the traveler interface to be presented on the display of the mobile computing device. In some embodiments, a calendar interface is presented to a traveler. In some embodiments, trip items may be added by the traveler to the calendar interface via import, entry, or selection from a trip item tray. In some embodiments, trip items may be presented in a trip item tray based on a match rank value representing a correspondence between preferences associated with the trip and attributes of the trip items. In some embodiments, interfaces may be presented to a supplier of trip items that allow the supplier to push relevant trip items to selected travelers during their travel upon detection of a push event.

03-31-2016

20160117618

DETERMINING ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL ITINERARIES USING CURRENT LOCATION - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting travel information. In one aspect, a method includes obtaining current flight status information for plural flights and using the information to determine that a user's flight itinerary is delayed or canceled, determining alternative flight itineraries to the flight itinerary, and providing alternative flight itineraries for display on a user device. Determining alternative flight itineraries includes obtaining a current geographical location of the user, obtaining a collection of candidate alternative flight itineraries occurring within a specified time frame using the current geographical location of the user regardless of the origin or connection locations identified in the user's flight itinerary, ranking the candidate alternative flight itineraries, determining current flight status information for a specified number of highest-ranked candidate alternative flight itineraries, and filtering the highest-ranked candidate alternative flights based on the current flight status.

04-28-2016

20160117617

USING PREFERENTIAL STATUS INDICATORS FOR ALTERNATIVE FLIGHT RECOMMENDATIONS - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for determining alternative travel itineraries. A method includes obtaining current flight status information; using the current flight status information to determine that a user itinerary is delayed or cancelled; determining one or more alternative flight itineraries to the user itinerary, including: determining one or more preferential status indicators from user flight itinerary information, obtaining candidate alternative flight itineraries occurring within a specified time frame that correspond to an origin and destination of the user itinerary and that are expanded to include flight itineraries and seat classes that are potentially available to the user based on the one or more preferential status indicators, ranking the candidate alternative flight itineraries, and selecting highest ranked candidates to generate a group of alternative flight itineraries; and providing the group of alternative flight itineraries for display on a user device.

04-28-2016

20160117616

DETERMINING ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL ITINERARIES USING WEATHER INFORMATION - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting travel information. In one aspect, a method includes obtaining current flight status information for plural flights and using the information to determine that a user's flight itinerary is delayed or canceled, determining alternative flight itineraries to the flight itinerary, and providing alternative flight itineraries for display on a user device. Determining alternative flight itineraries includes obtaining and ranking candidate alternative flight itineraries that occur within a specified time frame and that correspond to an origin and destination in the user's flight itinerary, obtaining and using weather information to determine particular candidate alternative flight itineraries having high-risk connections, weighting high-risk itineraries to generate a group of alternative flight itineraries, adjusting the ranking based on the weighting, and selecting highest-ranked candidates to generate a group of alternative flight itineraries.

04-28-2016

20160117619

USING A FLIGHT STATUS CENTRIC VIEW FOR ALTERNATIVE FLIGHT RECOMMENDATIONS - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for determining alternative travel itineraries. A method includes obtaining current flight status information for a plurality of flights; using the current flight status information to determine that a user flight itinerary is delayed or cancelled; determining one or more alternative flight itineraries to the user itinerary, including: obtaining a collection of candidate alternative flight itineraries occurring within a specified time frame and that correspond to an origin and destination of the user itinerary, determining current flight status information for the candidate alternative flight itineraries, ranking the collection of candidate alternative flight itineraries according to one or more criteria, and selecting a specified number of the highest ranked candidate alternative flights to generate a group of alternative flight itineraries; and providing one or more of the group of alternative flight itineraries for display on a user device.

04-28-2016

20100198628

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRESENTING PRICING INFORMATION FOR ONLINE TRAVEL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES - In an online search environment, embodiments described herein provide an interface that presents or provides a summary view of a search result for products or services. The summary view summarizes products or services that match search criteria by provider. In particular, the summary view identifies (i) individual providers that offers products or services that match the search criteria, and (ii) aggregates information that is descriptive of all (or many) products or services that match the search criteria of each identified provider. The aggregated information may be presented in visual association with the provider (e.g. tabular form), and may list price ranges and/or counts of the number of products/services of the provider that match the criteria. Other features may be incorporated into the summary view, such as a visual marker that enables the user to view supplemental information without navigating away from the view. Still further, a programmatic element or robot may trigger search input and criteria, in lieu of a person providing input via a user interface. As another alternative, a community information service enables individuals to view and exchange communications with others in their community.

08-05-2010

20130218615

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED TRAVEL AND EXPENSE MANGEMENT AND DETECTING DUPLICATE TRAVEL PATH INFORMATION - Methods and systems may retrieve travel data records corresponding to travel requests; retrieve expense data records reflecting expense transactions, compare the expense data records to the travel data records, and determine a likelihood that the expense data records match the travel data records. Methods and systems may also detect possible duplicate travel path information by obtaining a set of travel paths with at least two travel paths, breaking each travel path into at least one segment comprising a single unit of travel with an origin and a destination, comparing each leg in each travel path to each leg in every other travel path to determine whether any travel paths are duplicates, and listing any segment paths that are possible duplicates.

08-22-2013

20100312588

Kind of business travel system based on network platform - The invention established a business travel system based on the network platform to the public, making the internal management of travel agency become platform, and providing all-directions services according to different clients and needs. Its technical scheme as following: system including a database, a logging module, a client module by which a user can access the network platform to design and manage business travel scheme, a operator module by which an operator access the network platform to manage and trace the entire process. Wherein the client module further includes the journey basic information input module, everyday schedule input module, order form generating and quoting module and member list adding module. The operator module further includes a service activity adding module, an airline ticket confirming module, a hotel confirming module, a cicerone scheduling module, a local reception scheduling module and the third-time order form generating and quoting module. The invention applies to the area of developing online business travel.

12-09-2010

20130297360

FLIGHT-PRICE MONITORING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - A flight-ticket price may be monitored by obtaining an itinerary record associated with a previously-booked flight itinerary, identifying a group of flight segments that corresponds to a ticket, “fingerprinting” the ticket, and determining a schedule to periodically monitor prices associated with the ticket. During at least one price-monitoring period, an up-to-date version of the itinerary record is obtained and “fingerprinted”. The “fingerprints” are used to verify that the flight ticket has not changed significantly, current pricing data is obtained, and a cost saving is determined to be currently obtainable, considering possible change penalties, by re-ticketing or re-booking the group of flight segments.

11-07-2013

20100174569

Destin - An enterprise resource planning (ERP) based total task integrated destination management system. The system is configured to operate in a Windows based platform comprising a destination management service organizer and a concierge service organizer for rendering hospitality services. The destination management service organizer is operable to receive a plurality of informational components such as an event category, destination of event, mode of travel, arrival and departure details, etc. from group travelers and/or Free Independent Travelers (FITs). The concierge service organizer is operable to receive a plurality of inputs from at least one customer for at least one program event such as, international conferences, ground logistics and hospitality programs, exhibitions, incentive travel programs, and corporate events. The system incorporates arrival and/or departure scheduling, transportation links and a database that includes interactive tables that may update automatically whenever a change is made to the informational components or the user inputs.

07-08-2010

20130268306

SCHEDULE ARRANGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRIPS MATCHING, INTEGRATION AND OUTPUT - The present invention provides a schedule arrangement system and a method for trips matching, integration and output, the schedule arrangement system includes at least one information of an itinerary displaying board displaying an itinerary; a general displaying module displaying the general; a geographic displaying module displaying geographic; and at least an interaction existing thereamong for assisting the users in completing their schedule plans. In one embodiment, the schedule arrangement system further includes a matching system. In another embodiment, the schedule arrangement system further includes an integration system of schedule arrangement and resource reservation. In still another embodiment, the schedule arrangement system further includes a personalized travel information automatic output system.

10-10-2013

20130346124

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING A COMPATIBLE GROUP TRAVEL ITINERARY - A method and system are provided for determining a group travel destination and compatible travel itinerary for a travel party to travel on a trip together. A unique identifier is created or used by each individual traveler, and each individual traveler is asked a series of hierarchical questions concerning parameters for travel in order to create a profile. Multiple traveler profiles are linked to form a set of travel party data. After further refining and polling a common destination and a common set of travel dates is selected from possible travel dates after a lookup by the system in each travelers individual calendars.

12-26-2013

20140067442

TRAVEL PACKAGES INCLUDING SEPARATELY PURCHASED TRAVEL ITEMS - A user of a personal computing device may identify multiple travel items of interest displayed for purchase by a network-based travel service. However, the user may not desire to purchase the travel items in a single purchase. Upon making a travel purchase that includes a first travel item that does not include a second travel item corresponding to the first travel item, the user may employ the network travel package service to search for second travel items corresponding to the first travel item, select from discounted travel packages including the first travel item and second travel items returned from the search, and purchase a discounted travel package. Beneficially, multiple travel items may be purchased separately while obtaining a package discount as compared to the stand-alone price of the travel items.

03-06-2014

20140278614

ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL RECOMMENDATIONS - Methods, systems, and computer program products for generating travel recommendations and alternative travel recommendations. At least one minimum fare path having an associated value may be determined based on a travel request. At least one alternative fare path having an associated value may be determined based at least in part on the associated value of the at least one minimum fare path. At least one travel recommendation may be generated based on the at least one minimum fare path, and at least one alternative travel recommendation may be generated based on the at least one alternative fare path.

09-18-2014

20100153144

Automated Check-in for Reserved Service - Automated check-in systems for air travel and similar services are described herein. A customer indicates a preference for automatic check-in at some point prior to when check-in is permitted. At the first time that check-in is permitted, the automatic check-in data for customers indicating a preference for automatic check-in is processed. The automatic check-in may be prioritized according to various rules.

06-17-2010

20120089427

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GROUPING TRIP ITINERARIES - A system, a computer-readable storage medium including instructions, and a computer-implemented method to group trip itineraries is described. A plurality of trip itineraries is obtained by a client computer system from a server, wherein the plurality of trip itineraries is obtained in response to a search query received from a user of the client computer system. A dominating trip itinerary and a dominated trip itinerary from the plurality of trip itineraries is identified by the client computer system, wherein the dominating trip itinerary satisfies a predetermined domination criterion with respect to the dominated trip itinerary. A user interface to be displayed on the client computer system is generated by the client computer system, wherein the user interface is generated to present details of the dominating trip itinerary to the exclusion of details of the dominated trip itinerary.

04-12-2012

20100030594

Method for User Driven Multi-objective Optimization of Travel Plans - The invention is a travel planning system that treats travel planning as a multi-objective optimization problem and allows the one or more users to optimize itineraries through an iterative process of selecting new destinations by a greedy process that encourages the adding of destinations that taken one at a time add minimally to the cost and maximally to the benefit of the itinerary and a competitive process of comparing potential itinerary changes on multiple benefit axes.

02-04-2010

20140214462

INTERACTIVE ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD - Systems and methods for defining, booking and managing activities or services by a user of digital computer implemented applications and interactive displays based on time, location and theme as related to the user's local environment.

07-31-2014

20100228578

SEAMLESS GLOBAL ASSISTANCE - The subject matter described herein includes methods and systems for providing seamless global assistance to travelers. According to one method, pre-travel services are provided to travelers through client interaction devices. Customized assistance is provided during travel. Post-travel services are also provided to the travelers. The global assistance is provided by seamless transformation of virtual assistance into physical assistance.

09-09-2010

20150095073

FACILITATING PASSENGER TO MANAGE AIRLINE RESERVATION WITHIN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE - Systems and methods for facilitating passengers to manage airline reservations within electronic messages are disclosed. Interactive content may be determined based on airline reservation information associated with the passengers. The interactive content may include content sets for the passengers to purchase flight options such as upgrading seats, meals, entertainment, and the like within the electronic message. The interactive content may include content sets for the passengers to interact with (e.g., select) offers by merchants. Targeted offers or advertisements may be obtained from the merchants by providing passenger information. In some examples, selection of targeted offers for presentation to the passenger in the electronic messages may be made based on historical information related to the passenger (e.g., such as product preferences manifested by the passengers in the past).

04-02-2015

20100070314

SHARED SPACE AVAILABILITY BY DYNAMICALLY RESPONDING TO USER UTILIZATION BEHAVIOR OF SHARED SPACE - The present invention discloses a solution for improving shared space availability by dynamically responding user utilization behavior of shared space. In the system, automated sensors within a shared space can be used to detect when spaces are in use. Sensors such as motion detectors, infrared sensors, cameras, and the like can correlate space usage to a reservation system. When a space is reserved by a user, the system can verify space occupancy according to the reservation. If the space is unoccupied and the reservation time has not expired, the space can be automatically freed. If the excess time before reservation expiration is more than a threshold value (e.g., fifteen minutes) the system can penalize the user. Penalties can be applied for users that do not utilize reservations.

03-18-2010

20160125559

TRIP PLANNING PLATFORM - Systems and methods for a trip planning platform are provided. In example embodiments, an indication of a content item associated with a trip is received from a particular user of a social collaboration service. A content card representing the content item is generated. A trip itinerary including the content card is assembled for an organizer user of the social collaboration service. The trip itinerary is presented on a user interface of a user device of a candidate trip participant. Communication pertaining to the trip itinerary is facilitated between the organizing user and the candidate trip participant.

05-05-2016

20160125502

Travel Itinerary Recommendation Engine Using Inferred Interests and Sentiments - Travel itineraries are automatically prepared based upon user interests and sentiments inferred by deep semantic analysis of user-commented and user-preferred digital works of literature by receiving interests and associated sentiment levels for at least one user according to a deep semantic analysis of a plurality of works of literature, wherein the works of literature have been rated, commented, or both rated and commented by the user; searching repositories of travel items to find one or more matching travel items to the received more interests and associated sentiment levels; and preparing at least one travel itinerary including at least one found matching travel item. Travel itineraries may be prepared responsive to a user-initiated trip planning session, responsive to notification of a new travel item's availability, periodically, or a combination thereof.

05-05-2016

20140316829

System for Implementing a Travel Network with Trip Planning and Social Media Capabilities - A system and methodology through which users can access various features and functionality relative to travel and collaborative and informational aspects thereof. This functionality is accessed through a website available to users through various devices such as tablets, PCs, laptops, smartphones and other similar devices. The system and methodology provides trip planning features such that users can upload, view and modify content associated with trips taken or planned as well as view trip information of others subject to appropriate authorization. Further, the system of the present invention may include interfaces and interoperability with social media services so that activity occurring through one of these services can be shared with other services and the services of the present invention and vice versa.

10-23-2014

20160125327

DYNAMIC PACKAGING FOR RE-ACCOMMODATION - Methods, systems, and computer program products for building customized packages based upon a disruption impacting an itinerary. Packages may contain a travel solution and a service. The content of each package may be based up on data relating to passenger preferences, data relating to trip context, and availability data retrieved from an availability database, as well as policy-building rules.

05-05-2016

20140288982

TEMPORAL SERIES ALIGNMENT FOR MATCHING REAL TRIPS TO SCHEDULES IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS - Methods and systems for matching real trips to schedules in a public transportation system. Inputs can be reduced to a two-dimensional sequence alignment of data indicative of a temporal series of arrival and departure timestamps. A dynamic programming solution is applied to the two-dimensional sequence alignment of the data. Then, symmetric and asymmetric cases are analyzed with respect to the two-dimensional sequence alignment of the data to thereby match real trip data to schedule data in the public transportation system based on the temporal series of the arrival and departure timestamps.

09-25-2014

20090313055

COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING TRAVEL PLANNING FOR A PROSPECTIVE TRAVELER - A travel, e.g., honeymoon, planning system comprises a travel planning tool operative to provide a first set of at least one first travel information request to a first user and to receive a first set of at least one first travel information response from the first user; a match tool coupled to the travel planning tool and operative to rate travel properties based upon the first set of at least one first travel information response of the first user; a booking tool coupled to the match tool and operative to enable the first user to book a specific travel property based on the travel property ratings; and an experience planing tool coupled to the booking tool and operative to track travel planning progress.

12-17-2009

20150356471

UNIFIED TRAVEL INTERFACE - A travel booking system abstracts the user from a travel search of web and internet searches initiated by the user and the search result of those searches to present the user with a consistent interface for both entry and results. As part of the abstraction the search introduces elements of one or more traveller profiles to delineate the searches. The user may investigate the search results for a trip or alternate route options returned by a search to further direct the search or to book a search result.

12-10-2015

20150356623

System And Method For Recommending Customized Tourism Content Based On Collecting And Structurizing Of Unstructured Tourism Data - A customized tourism content recommending system is provided which collects and structurizes unstructured tourism data. The customized tourism content recommending system includes a data collecting unit, a data structurizing unit, a user emotion analyzing unit, and a schedule providing unit. The data collecting unit collects unstructured data about a tourism at one time, and the data structurizing unit structurizes the unstructured data, collected by the data collecting unit, based on one or more of a time, a place, or an occasion. The user emotion analyzing unit analyzes an emotion of a user about an individual tourism experience. The schedule providing unit reflects the analysis of the emotion analyzing unit about the user's emotion, derives a customized travel schedule from the data, structurized by the data structurizing unit, according to one or more of the time, the place, or the occasion, and provides the derived result to the user.

12-10-2015

20160048777

RESERVATION MANAGEMENT METHOD AND RESERVATION MANAGEMENT APPARATUS - A reservation management apparatus obtains reservation information including reserved trip information indicating a vehicle trip that has not departed and is reserved by one of a plurality of users and reserving user information indicating the user. The reservation management apparatus determines one or more other users who are associated with the same trip information as the user, with reference to history information associating information about users who took vehicle trips that were operated with different departure dates and times in the past with trip information indicating the vehicle trips. The reservation management apparatus outputs other user information indicating at least some of the determined other users in association with the reservation information.

02-18-2016

20130144668

INTERNET BASED DYNAMIC FLIGHT RESERVATION SYSTEM AND ITS METHOD OF USE - A global flight center (GFC) having an improved global reservation system for passenger and cargo aircrafts and allows for the consolidation of aircraft flight schedules worldwide. It operates over the Internet by giving system users the ability to reserve aircraft in real time globally. With the creation of a new (hardware and software) system, the system creates an improved marketing method and possibilities between broker agencies and aircraft owner operators. For users of this new system, the new method creates an exclusive reservation system and relationship between all agents and broker parties—to the aircraft operators. This is accomplished by means of the GFC system's resources managing recruiting or registration style process which is done through the GFC interactive application on the website.

06-06-2013

20140278616

MULTI-MODAL FARE CALCULATION METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS - A computer-implemented method and system are provided for dynamically evaluating fares over multiple itineraries for a journey involving multiple modes of transit and served by one or more mass transit providers. A non-transitory computer-readable medium is also provided that includes a plurality of instructions that, when executed by at least one electronic device, at least cause the at least one network-connectable device to evaluate fares over multiple itineraries for a journey involving multiple modes of transit and served by one or more mass transit providers. An apparatus for evaluating fares over multiple itineraries for a journey, along with a method of operation of an apparatus, is also provided.

09-18-2014

20140019176

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEARCHING AND BOOKING A COMPLETE TRAVEL ITINERARY - A travel system uses information pertaining to an initial origin and an ultimate destination of a traveler, instead of specific airports (or other travel depots) to plan and book a complete itinerary. The complete itinerary may include transportation, lodging, and/or car rentals for one or more travel legs to/from one or more destinations. In some embodiments, the travel system may import information associated with one or more appointments from the traveler's calendar to automatically plan and book the complete itinerary.

01-16-2014

20100305984

INTERMODAL TRIP PLANNER - A method and apparatus identify a set of trips satisfying base criteria, at least some of the trips comprising a series of trip segments connected to an intermediate location between an origin location and the destination location. Each intermediate location is connected to only two of the trip segments. At least two of the trip segments have different transportation modes. The method and apparatus further identify a subset of the trips that satisfy secondary criteria.

12-02-2010

20120035967

SOFTWARE TO PROVIDE GEOGRAPHICALLY RELEVANT WEBSITE CONTENT - Internet based software application that identifies the geographic location of each a website visitor by their IP address to provide geographically relevant content to each individual visitor in a customized web page. In an embodiment, content can be further customized by web page viewing patterns of users in similar geographic locations. In an embodiment the software application matches the visitor's location to likely travel departure points with offerings likely to interest a visitor from said location and displays likely attractive offers dynamically to that visitor.

02-09-2012

20150134378

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SHARING ACTIONABLE TRAVEL ITINERARIES - A method for sharing actionable travel itineraries includes providing a user interface to allow the user to select from a plurality of travel services, storing a user-created actionable travel itinerary comprised of specific travel service booking information from the plurality of travel services, receiving personal information of other users, allowing users to share the actionable travel itinerary with other users, and booking the travel services for the other users by combining the information included in the actionable travel itinerary with the personal data of the other users.

05-14-2015

20130103438

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING THE PURCHASE OF A TRAVEL ITINERARY SUBJECT TO DESTINATION UNCERTAINTY - A method of completing a booking based on a plurality of travel itineraries added to a travel online shopping cart that includes processing, from a buyer, the travel itineraries and a plurality of destinations; processing, from the buyer, at least: (i) travel party information and (ii) payer information for the travel itineraries and the destinations; obtaining from the buyer, an agreement that includes: (i) buying a subset of a) the travel itineraries and b) the destinations, and (ii) a penalty for subsequently canceling the booking; selecting, by a provider, at least one destination from the destinations to obtain a selected destination; processing, from the buyer, at least one travel itinerary that corresponds to the selected destination; performing a monetary transaction to complete the booking for the selected destination; and communicating that the at least one travel itinerary and the selected destination has been purchased by the buyer.

04-25-2013

20140012611

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING VIABLE PATTERN-TRANSFERS FOR AN ITINERARY -PLANNING SYSTEM - The present invention relates to a method and system for generating viable pattern-transfers for an itinerary-planning system. The method commences with the identification of pairs of patterns along fixed transit routes that are proximate one another. Each of the patterns include a number of stops connected by pattern segments traveled in a specific order. Pattern-transfers are identified between the stops along an inbound pattern of the pairs and the stops along an outbound pattern of the pairs. At least one of the pattern-transfers is discarded if traveling from the inbound pattern to the outbound pattern via the at least one of the pattern-transfers is unadvantageous compared to traveling from the inbound pattern to the outbound pattern via at least one other of the pattern-transfers. The undiscarded pattern-transfers are stored in storage for use by an itinerary-planning system.

01-09-2014

20130124238

Detecting Travel Information - Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for detecting travel information. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a document; annotating detected entities in the document; generating one or more travel leg structures using the annotations, wherein generating the one or more travel leg structures includes determining that one or more annotations match a valid travel schedule; and generating an itinerary from the one or more travel leg structures.

05-16-2013

20130030849

PORTABLE VACATION/TRAVEL PLANNER, AND FAMILY TOUR GUIDE DEVICE - A portable device for planning a vacation/business travel itinerary, which begins with customizable itinerary templates that utilize a stored database of destination information, including a country's regions/cities, tourist sites, and other sites of interest located therein, and a corresponding photographic library. One such template returns itineraries based upon: duration, arrival/departure cities, total number of cities to be visited, and intensity of touring. The software assists users during travel by providing cueing of itinerary segments, along with directions, and on-demand pre-recorded audio tours to enhance site tour experiences. En route detours from planned sites are supported for spontaneous additions/substitutions. Country-specific information includes city/regional maps, public transportation information, key word/phrase language translation capability, and yellow/white page phone listings. Password protected device-to-device linking permits family members to track each other by GPS location of the other's device. Internet capability permits inclusion, within itineraries, of reservation-specific information for air-travel, hotels, and events.

01-31-2013

20130073325

Method of Event and Venue Planning and Delivering System - A method of event and venue planning and delivering system includes a plurality of user account and a plurality of host accounts. Each of the plurality of host account can uploads a plurality of destination into a website. Each of the plurality of user accounts completes a plurality of preference surveys during the registration process. When the user account prompts the website to generate a specific tour, a planning engine plans the specific tour which includes desired destination from the plurality of destinations. Then the specific tour is displayed to the user account through an electronic calendaring system. Once the user account chooses final selections for the specific tour, the specific tour is assigned into a finalized tour. Then the finalized tour can be purchased through an online transaction by the user account.

03-21-2013

20150294238

TRAVEL PLANNING SYSTEM - Methods, systems, and computer program products for generating travel proposals that satisfy traveler defined stopover and segment time and activity constraints. A travel planning module receives data relating to a travel request from a traveler. The travel request may include data defining an origin, a destination, and a trip constraint requiring a stopover. The travel planning module determines a minimum number of segments required to satisfy the trip constraints, and generates a set of routes with each route comprising a number of links greater than or equal to the minimum number of required segments. The travel planning module may then populate each of the routes with scheduled segments to generate a plurality of candidate travel proposals based on data received from a scheduling database. Candidate travel proposals that do not satisfy the trip constraints may be discarded, and the remaining candidate travel proposals displayed to the traveler.

10-15-2015

20150294240

SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING TOUR EVENT COMPARISON - A system or method may be provided to compare the overall costs for attending different events in a tour. In particular, each overall cost may include admission cost, travel cost, and lodging cost. Further, the overall costs for different users who are planning to attend an event together as a group also are estimated. The users in the group may be located at different locations. Thus, overall costs for attending different events in a tour may be compared among different events of the tour and/or among different users in the group. In an embodiment, an event that results in a minimum aggregate cost for the group is selected and recommended to the group. In another embodiment, an event may be selected to balance the overall cost among the users in the group.

10-15-2015

20150294239

SYSTEMS, METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ONLINE MANAGEMENT OF A TRAVEL ITINERARY - A first itinerary comprising a first plurality of first location elements associated with locations to be visited during a trip, each first location element comprising first duration information, first arrival date information, and first departure date information, is maintained. A second itinerary comprising a plurality of transport elements associated with transportation to be used during the trip and a second plurality of second location elements, each second location element associated with a corresponding first location element, each second location element comprising second duration information, second arrival date information, and second departure date information is maintained. Modification information indicating that a duration specified in a selected first location element has been altered is received. A first duration, first arrival date information, or first departure date information in a first location element is adjusted based on the modification information. Flight information relating to an airline flight is received. A second duration information or a second arrival date information in a second location element is adjusted based on the flight information.

10-15-2015

20150012313

INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM AND RECORDING MEDIUM WITH INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM RECORDED THEREON - Disclosed are an information processing device etc. whereby, when the genre of a plurality of locations to be visited and the period for visiting each location are provided, combinations of locations to be visited that could be respectively selected from each specified genre in the specified period can be specified. The genres of locations to be visited and the period over which visits may be made are acquired. Based on the acquired periods and positional information of the various locations to be visited belonging to each genre stored by storage means, combinations of locations to be visited that could be respectively selected from each specified genre in the specified period can be specified.

01-08-2015

20160055431

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING ITINERARIES AND WEATHER FORECAST DISPLAYS - A computer system is configured to generate travel itineraries from databases of travel data, the itineraries including ordered location and date data, and provide itineraries to user devices for generation of displays of weather forecast data for locations on the itinerary. A user device is configured to access itinerary data, generated from databases of travel data, and weather forecast data, and generate a display of weather forecast data for locations on the itinerary.

02-25-2016

20130103439

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING THE PURCHASE OF A TRAVEL ITINERARY SUBJECT TO DATE UNCERTAINTY - The disclosed embodiments relate to a system that facilitates a purchase of a travel itinerary subject to date uncertainty. This system is configured to receive a plurality of selected itineraries from a buyer, wherein the plurality of selected itineraries includes a first itinerary associated with a first set of dates and a second itinerary associated with a second set of dates. Next, upon receiving an agreement from the buyer to purchase an unspecified one of the plurality of selected itineraries, the system chooses one of the plurality of itineraries for the buyer and completes the purchase of the chosen itinerary on behalf of the buyer.

04-25-2013

20130103437

DIGITAL METHOD FOR PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION SERVICES RELATED APPLICATIONS - A method for providing airline patrons with a car service reservation system which facilitates car services and an efficient pricing system for customers on a flat fee, non-metered basis. The ground transportation service provider system allows patrons to rate the transportation service they receive upon arrival to final destination.

04-25-2013

20140095230

INFERING TRAVEL PATH IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM - A method and apparatus are disclosed for inferring a travel path in a public transportation system. The apparatus comprises: a single-line origin-destination (OD) inferring device configured to infer from boarding data of a bus line a passenger alighting stop on the line as an inferred passenger alighting stop according to historical data, wherein the boarding data comprises a passenger boarding stop during a predetermined time period and a number of boarding passengers at the stop. A transfer line inferring device is configured to infer a passenger transfer line as an inferred passenger transfer line according to the boarding data and the inferred passenger alighting stop obtained by the single-line OD inferring means.

04-03-2014

20120059679

INCREMENTAL SEARCHING IN MULTI-PASSENGER MULTI-ROUTE TRAVEL PLANNING - A multiple routes for multiple passengers are produced by ordering passenger groups and for each passenger group, constructing an individual query and sending the individual query to a travel planning system. Solutions based on the individual query are received from the travel planning system and a single individual solution is selected from the response. Constraints are added to subsequent individual queries based on previously selected individual solutions and joint travel requirements or preferences.

03-08-2012

20140236646

Internet Destination Sales System with ASP-Hosted Member Interface - An integrated computerized sales system for destination events includes a member user interface (MUI) hosted by an application service provider (ASP) and accessible to a plurality of independent service providers that are members of a convention visitor bureau (CVB) organization. Members periodically log into the MUI to review information on a request for proposal (RFP) from a potential destination event organizer. The MUI includes a tentative response booking agreement (TRBA) electronic form to be completed by a member for any services responsive to the RFP that the member is willing to make available. A projected service availability database automatically incorporates information from the TRBA and is accessible only by the CVB. The projected service availability database is reviewed by the CVB in order to prepare a response to the RFP that includes information about services from members of the CVB that is then communicated to the potential destination event organizer.

08-21-2014

20120136683

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING TRAVEL PACKAGES INCLUDING SEPARATELY PURCHASED TRAVEL ITEMS - A user of a personal computing device may identify multiple travel items of interest displayed for purchase by a network-based travel service. However, the user may not desire to purchase the travel items in a single purchase. Upon making a travel purchase that includes a first travel item that does not include a second travel item corresponding to the first travel item, the user may employ the network travel package service to search for second travel items corresponding to the first travel item, select from discounted travel packages including the first travel item and second travel items returned from the search, and purchase a discounted travel package. Beneficially, multiple travel items may be purchased separately while obtaining a package discount as compared to the stand-alone price of the travel items.

05-31-2012

20120084105

METHOD FOR SELECTING A ROUND TRIP TRANSPORT SERVICE IN ONE CLICK - The present invention concerns a method for selecting in one click a round trip transport service among a plurality of transport services between a departure place and a destination for a preferred departure date and a preferred return date, said plurality of transport services covering direct and/or multi-stop journeys at various prices, said method comprising the steps of:—displaying on a first axis a range of dates covering at least the preferred departure and return dates;—displaying on a second axis a range covering the various prices of said plurality of transport services;—selecting transport services corresponding to said departure place, said destination and at least said preferred departure and return dates;—for each of said selected transport services, placing the service at a level on the second axis corresponding to the price associated with this service;—on the first axis, placing at least one icon corresponding to the departure date and at least one icon corresponding to the return date of said transport service, these icons being linked by an information bar;—selecting one of the displayed transport service by clicking on said information bar.

04-05-2012

20140180736

System And Method For Negotiating A Shared Flight Itinerary - A system and method whereby an air charter brokerage service enables users with similar or matching travel plans to find each other to directly negotiate a shared flight itinerary using a web-based negotiation software application. The air charter brokerage service further enables users to directly book the shared itinerary using a web-based negotiation software application, whereby the air charter brokerage service provides a charter aircraft for the shared flight itinerary.

06-26-2014

20140236647

METHOD OF GENERATING A TRAVEL ITINERARY THROUGH SEARCH AND INTERACTIVE OPTIMIZATION OF PREFERENCES - A method for building group travel itineraries includes providing web site associated with a web server, identifying a primary organizer for building a group travel itinerary through the web site, identifying one or more co-planners for building the group travel itinerary through the web site, collecting trip parameters from the primary organizer through the web site, collecting preferences from the one or more co-planners through the web site, building a plurality of group travel itineraries based on the trip parameters and the preferences using a decision engine associated with the web site, presenting the plurality of group travel itineraries to the primary organizer and the one or more co-planners through the web site, receiving feedback from the primary organizer and the one or more co-planners on the plurality of group travel itineraries through the web site, and determining a group travel itinerary using the feedback using the decision engine.

08-21-2014

20140337068

Systems and Methods for Minimizing Travel Costs for Multi-Night Stays - A lowest rate on a multi-night lodging stay is achieved by obtaining lodging rate information for a first lodging location from a plurality of lodging rate sources. The information is correlated with each night of a window during which a consumer is available to travel. A block of nights within the window having the lowest lodging rate is identified. Then, a plurality of lodging reservations corresponding to the identified block are generated, wherein at least two of the lodging reservations correspond to different nights of the multi-night lodging stay and are placed through different lodging reservation systems. A block having the lowest total cost of travel can also be identified by considering the cost of other travel related expenses in conjunction with the lodging rate for the block.

11-13-2014

20110307280

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEARCHING AND BOOKING A COMPLETE TRAVEL ITINERARY - A travel system uses information pertaining to an initial origin and an ultimate destination of a traveler, instead of specific airports (or other travel depots) to plan and book a complete itinerary. The complete itinerary may include transportation, lodging, and/or car rentals for one or more travel legs to/from one or more destinations. In some embodiments, the travel system may import information associated with one or more appointments from the traveler's calendar to automatically plan and book the complete itinerary.

12-15-2011

20140149157

TRAVEL PLANNING - Among other things, information is received from a user interacting with a user interface about a trip that is being planned from an origin to a destination, the information including a user indication of travel modes to be considered in planning the trip and the possible travel modes including at least three of bus, train, car, water, and air. Two or more alternative travel options are determined each including two or more of the modes based on the received information; and the options are presented to the user through the user interface.

05-29-2014

20150371157

TRIP PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION - A system and method are provided which obtain a travel itinerary for a user, the itinerary identifying a trip, including a scheduled flight to a destination. A scheduled flight is monitored to detect when the scheduled flight arrives at the destination. Upon the scheduled flight arriving at an airport of the destination, one or more notifications are sent to a mobile computing device of the user. Information can be provided with the notifications for an on-demand ground transportation service. The information may include a location at the airport where the user can be picked up in connection with receiving the on-demand transportation service, and a timing indicator to indicate when the user should make a request to receive the on-demand transportation service based on a real-time determination of a number of available service providers in a vicinity of the airport.

12-24-2015

20160004981

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BOOKING CONFERENCE SITE, AND CONFERENCE SYSTEM - The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for booking a conference site, and a conference system. The method includes: acquiring location information of multiple participants and time information of a conference; acquiring schedule information and location information of multiple conference sites; respectively comparing the location information of the multiple participants and the time information of the conference with the location information and the schedule information of the multiple conference sites, to obtain a first comparison result; and allocating according to the first comparison result, conference sites that meet a distance requirement and are free within a time indicated by the time information of the conference in the multiple conference sites to the multiple participants. According to the present invention, a conference site booking device may be used to automatically allocate a conference site to a participant, which enables quick and effort-saving booking of a conference site.

01-07-2016

20140108070

USING MULTI-DESTINATION SEARCHES TO FACILITATE THE PURCHASE OF TRAVEL ITINERARIES - The disclosed embodiments provide a system that facilitates a purchase of a travel itinerary. During operation, the system obtains a query containing one or more destination preferences provided by a user for the travel itinerary, wherein the one or more destination preferences include at least one of a region and an experience. Next, the system matches the one or more destination preferences to a set of destinations and generates a ranking of the destinations based on a set of criteria associated with the query. The system then uses the set of destinations to perform a search of available travel itineraries matching the query. Finally, the system provides the available travel itineraries to the user based on the ranking.

04-17-2014

20120239442

METHOD FOR AUDITING THE VALUE OF A PARTIAL TICKET CHANGE TRANSACTION - The invention is for auditing the value of a change for at least one non used portion of an interline ticket in a networked travel reservation system including programmed processor performing receiving a request for a change for at least a non-used portion of an interline ticket; calculating the prorated amounts for the original itinerary (Refund) and both the original and new itineraries (Exchange); authorizing the change upon the validating airline ticket's balance being equal or greater than a predefined threshold; and triggering an event upon the validating airline ticket's balance being less than a predefined threshold.

09-20-2012

20140019177

ON-BOARD ONWARDS TRAVEL ENABLEMENT KIOSK (OBOTEK) - A method/apparatus/system for onboard onwards travel ticketing is provided. Onboard onwards travel ticketing is provided by determining current location of a mode of transit, determining the destination of a user, identifying purchase options relevant to the destination, and providing the purchase options to the user. The purchase options can be a subset of all purchase options, which subset can be selected according to one or several bounding rules, and can be options for further travel. The user can then select one or several of the purchase options and can transact the purchase of one or several of the purchase options with the apparatus and/or system.

01-16-2014

20140025410

SYSTEM FOR MANAGEMENT OF ITINERARIES - A method and system for coordinating travel arrangements. A global travel utility (“GTU”) system allows travel service provider (“TSP”) systems to be connected via a communications link to a “concierge” system. The GTU system includes computer systems that execute the TSP systems and the concierge system. The concierge system provides components for assisting the traveler in creating an itinerary and for storing traveler profile information. The concierge system also includes an event notification component that receives various event notifications from the TSP systems. Upon receiving an unanticipated event notification, the concierge system automatically identifies the itineraries impacted by the event and automatically changes those itineraries as appropriate.

01-23-2014

20140058772

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONDUCTING AN ELECTRONIC AUCTION FOR AVAILABLE CARGO CAPACITY ON A CARGO CARRIER - The embodiments relate to systems and methods for conducting an electronic auction for available cargo capacity on a cargo carrier. In one aspect, the embodiments may monitor the cargo carrier to determine its geographic location as the cargo carrier travels towards a starting point of a route; determine a route starting distance between the geographic location of the cargo carrier and the starting point of the route; begin the electronic auction to sell the available cargo capacity prior to the cargo carrier arriving at the starting point of the route, the electronic auction selling the available cargo capacity at a current route price that corresponds to the route starting distance; and receive input indicating a purchase of the available cargo capacity at the current route price. In some embodiments, a route may be partitioned into potentially overlapping segments, and electronic auctions may be conducted for each route segment.

02-27-2014

20120197673

Generating Flight Schedules Using Fare Routings and Rules - Techniques executed in a computer based travel-planning-system for flight scheduling, includes receiving trip segments, determining constraints on sequences of flights between the endpoints of the trip segments, the constraints derived from properties of fares that can be used with the flights, generating itineraries from flights using the constraints, and pricing the itineraries.

08-02-2012

20110251863

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR INVENTORY DATA SHARING BETWEEN AIRLINES - The method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention allows a single computerized Inventory system to access multiple sources of Inventory data for different airlines in real-time; without a performance hit on the inventory system; without needing specific interfaces to be put in place; and without needing duplication of data. A customer request requiring inventory data from some other airlines is detected on the airline Inventory system. For each other airline involved in the action that has been detected, a component holding access rules is queried to check whether the airline has the permission to access the other airline inventory data, and the precise data to which it has access. For each other airline involved in the action that has been detected and for which the airline has the permission to access inventory data, the airline Inventory system connects to the other airline partition, retrieve the required current other airline inventory data, and disconnects from the other airline partition. The action that has previously been detected is finally processed, taking into account all the other airline inventory data.

10-13-2011

20110145025

MULTI-DESTINATION TRIP SELECTION - A method of selecting at least one trip from a plurality of possible trips, each of the plurality of possible trips being for travel from an origin location and comprising stops at a plurality of destinations. The method is performed in computer apparatus configured to execute the method. The method comprises: determining a fare for each of a plurality of different leg options for each leg, each leg being between one of: the origin location and a destination; and two destinations; selecting a plurality of candidate leg options for each leg based on comparative amounts of the determined fares, the plurality of candidate leg options being fewer in number than the plurality of different leg options; and determining at least one trip based on the plurality of candidate leg options for each leg.

06-16-2011

20110225012

System and Method of Travel Itinerary Creation - A system and method for creating a travel itinerary. An itinerary creation engine may receive a request for a travel itinerary, identify one or more midpoints between the requested origin and destination (or proximate locations), and generate an itinerary that includes a route between the one or more midpoints and the origin or the destination (or proximate locations).

09-15-2011

20110282702

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTEXTUALIZED, INTERACTIVE MAPS FOR FINDING AND BOOKING SERVICES - In one embodiment, a method that can be performed on a system, is provided for contextualized interactive maps for finding and booking services. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving a user's request for one or more services related to an identified location; presenting a map to the user, the map including interactive data identifying one or more services per the request by the user; receiving from the user, a request for a booking for one or more of the services; and processing the booking request.

11-17-2011

20090157438

Quantifying Revenue and Profit Impact of Retiming Flights While Taking Into Consideration Non-Linear Ramifications and Constraints - A method, system and computer program product for efficiently quantifying the economic impact of retiming flights without the necessity of implementing the traditional airline forecasting system from scratch. A forecast module computes the difference in impact prior to and after the retiming of a flight. A flight grouping module, using the computed difference in impact, generates a new schedule, which is used by the forecast module to generate new changes in impact, until the schedule converges. A flyable module generates a list of retimed flights based on the converged schedule for resolving operational infeasibilities of the latter. The forecast module generates a profit for each of the retimed flights, which is used by a scheduling module to improve the schedule, which is used by the forecast module to revise the economic impacts for the list of all retimed flights. This process continues until no further economic improvement can be made.

06-18-2009

20090063208

Seat Routine Processes - The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a process that includes selecting accommodations during a travel reservation is described. The method includes receiving, at a software application that manages travel reservations, input that customizes configurable attributes of software travel objects representing accommodations used in transportation of passengers. The method also includes receiving criteria from a customer specifying preferences that affect a passenger's experience during travel, ranking the received criteria so that one or more criterion are preferred, selecting one or more of the accommodations using an optimization function to compare the ranked criteria to the customized configurable attributes, and outputting the selected one or more accommodations for use by the customer in selecting a first accommodation for the passenger.

TRAVEL PLAN GENERATION - In a computing system, an identification of a traveler, a destination, a departure date, and one or more activity indicators is received from a user. One or more predefined tasks to be executed in preparation for travel by the traveler based on the received information are generated. Each of the one or more received activity indicators is used to generate a task. A travel plan that includes the one or more tasks to be executed is displayed.

10-02-2008

20080228534

Reservation Record Based Ticketing - The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a process for processing travel transactions without tickets. The process includes generating an electronic reservation record for a traveler that includes a reservation for travel along a travel segment and modifying the electronic reservation record to include a virtual ticket value that is unassociated with an electronic or physical ticket. The process also includes digitally transmitting the electronic reservation record having the virtual ticket value to a remote computing system that uses the electronic reservation record as exclusive evidence that the reservation has been confirmed for the traveler by a travel provider. For the process, the use of the electronic reservation record is exclusive of the presence or absence of any electronic or physical tickets.

09-18-2008

20090012824

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUPPLYING AN AGGREGATED AND ENHANCED ITINERARY - A computer readable storage medium supplies an aggregated and enhanced itinerary. The computer readable storage medium includes instructions to select an itinerary template based upon disparate itinerary booking events created for a user. The computer readable storage medium further includes instructions to evaluate the itinerary messages and identify logical relationships between travel events. The computer readable storage medium further includes instructions to produce enhanced travel information based on logical relationships identified within the itinerary messages. The computer readable storage medium further includes instructions to populate an itinerary with information from the received itinerary messages and enhanced travel information. Finally, the computer readable storage further includes instructions to deliver the itinerary to a user.

01-08-2009

20090234682

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AVAILABILITY OF AIRLINE SEATS - An availability system used for a travel planning system includes a cache having entries of availability information of seats for a mode of transportation. The system includes a cache manager that manages entry information in the cache so that information in the cache is correct, current, complete or otherwise as useful as possible. The cache manager determines when a stored answer is stale and, if a stored answer is stale, sends an availability query to a source of availability information.

09-17-2009

20090037234

INLAND FREIGHT MANAGEMENT - An inland freight management module for managing inland moves of freight from a plurality of vendor supply locations to port includes a profile maintenance component, a load planning component, and a load routing and booking component. The profile maintenance component is adapted for maintaining an inland planning zone profile including information relating to a plurality of inland planning zones generated according to one or more customs districts. The load planning component is programmed for planning field consolidation of one or more container loads via a multi-stop route between the plurality of vendor supply locations, where the multi-stop route is generated within one of the plurality of inland planning zones.

02-05-2009

20090006145

Booking Advertising Campaigns - Various aspects can be implemented for automated booking of advertising campaigns based on reach and frequency goals In general, one aspect can be a method that includes receiving campaign criteria including target reach and frequency for an advertising campaign. The method also includes allocating advertising spots based on the campaign criteria, and generating projected campaign reach and frequency based, at least in part, on the allocated advertising spots. The method further includes determining whether projected campaign reach and frequency sufficiently match target reach and frequency, and dynamically adjusting the allocation of advertising spots when the projected campaign reach and frequency do not sufficiently match the target reach and frequency. Other implementations of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer program products.

01-01-2009

20090171701

Method and System for Providing Dynamic and Real-Time Air Travel Information - Providing passengers and other interested parties with dynamic and real-time air travel information. This dynamic and real-time air travel information is shown in various screens on a computer monitor, and includes flight information, passenger information, other general air information, and advertising. The information is presented to passengers in a manner which reduces passenger wait time and allows gate agents to focus on other responsibilities. Information on seat standby status, upgrade standby status, and cleared standby status is provided on the computer monitor.

07-02-2009

20090177504

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSISTING ONLINE PRODUCT RESEARCH BY CONSUMERS - Rating information is maintained that is associated with one or more sources from which a product of interest can be purchased. Search criteria is received from a user that defines a product of interest. A plurality of sources are selected from which the user can transact for a product that satisfies the search criteria based at least in part on the rating information associated with one or more sources in the set. One or more sources can be determined from the rating information that have an acceptable rating value, or alternatively, a higher rating value than other sources in the set. A plurality of links may be displayed that individually locate a corresponding one of the plurality of sources. The plurality of links may be positioned, for example, based on the referral compensation provided by the sources of one or more of the links. The link that identifies the source with the highest or higher rating values may be identified to the user.

07-09-2009

20080215385

Methods and systems for services reservations - The present invention relates to systems and methods for making reservations for services provided to guests by a host organization through a central reservation system, wherein the central reservation system comprises a video monitor system, a paging system, and a communications network, wherein the central reservation system is connected to the video monitor system and the paging system via the communications network, and wherein the central reservation system maintains reservation data for one or more provided guest services at a host organization.

09-04-2008

20090048879

Systems and methods for enabling hospitality employees to share benefits in an online environment - The present invention relates to systems and methods for online procurement of hospitality-related benefits. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and applications for enabling hospitality employees to request, purchase, reserve, share, and receive benefits in an online environment. According to certain embodiments of the present invention, such methods generally comprise (a) providing a website accessible by a plurality of hospitality vendors and a plurality of hospitality employees; (b) providing a listing portal within the website in which hospitality vendors may register an offer, wherein the offer represents an opportunity to reserve and purchase a hospitality package; and (c) providing a means for enabling a hospitality employee to accept the offer, wherein individuals who are not hospitality employees are unable to accept the offer.

02-19-2009

20080208643

Follow your stars - A system and methods for providing comprehensive travel package to attend an event out of a series of scheduled events are disclosed. The system comprises a server engine having means for gathering all sorts of online travel related information from a plurality of specialized websites. It includes means for storing the gathered travel information. A travel time durations and costs calculator operates from the gathered travel information in order to dynamically build the comprehensive travel packages. Sets of comprehensive travel packages are then delivered to a plurality of client websites in response to the submission by their end-users of queries to attend events out of series of scheduled events. End-user queries include home locations along with further preferences that are used to dynamically build the corresponding set of comprehensive travel packages. The most appropriate event date and location is thus selected allowing to deliver the best travel package for the specified end-user home location. Preferences include minimizing overall trip elapsed times, minimizing overall trip costs and excluding some transportation means. The invention also applies to the organization of professional meetings and for socializing websites to restrict selection of people to meet only to those fitting in a cost or time metric.

08-28-2008

20080319808

Travel Monitoring - A Corporate Travel Management & Cost Consolidation system where each member of the Corporation's Travel Management Team, Corporate Executives and each Corporate Traveler uses a single terminal to view, and analyze Travel and Credit Card information from and to conduct travel and card transactions with two or more GDS, Travel Agency and by Credit Card Companies or other comparable ATDSs, alone or in combination with one or more types of electronic travel and card data. Travel and Credit Card information and processes the transactions are placed into a single integrated format. TravelMaster aggregates travel-booking information from each and every GDS, Travel Agency, and Credit Card Company or other vendors utilized by the corporation, including security, PNR identification, and pricing information. Booked travel and ask prices from participating GDS, Travel Agency, and Credit Card Companies may be integrated into the display. The combined information is displayed to a customer with standard views then sorted by price, volume, and other available attributes as desired by the customer. Each client is forwarded travel and card booking and payment information from only those GDSs, Travel Agencies, and Credit Card Companies that the customer is contracted with and thus entitled to receive.